Shrewsbury Prison Guided Tour

Really enjoyed the tour with tour guide and former prison warden Malcolm. We went with 2 children who enjoyed the tour. Very informative talk.

We visited for the Halloween 20:00pm-02:00am tour experience on 30.10.2026. The guides Wendy & Michelle were wonderful - friendly, informative, fun, supportive and we felt looked after & treated with respect. Not knowing what to expect we thoroughly enjoyed every part and the relaxed atmosphere, amidst the spooky dark tour, which was perfect. We were particularly impressed that the guides diligently ensured the welfare and safety of all of the guests and supported a vulnerable participant to secure a taxi home; not leaving any person at risk in any capacity. We enjoyed being able to use the equipment; which was great fun, alongside the period of free time at the end. The duration of the tour enabled a good amount of time so we did not feel rushed & the balance of structured and unstructured activities was great. This was the best night we have had for a long time. Thank you and we hope to visit again. P&R xx

Absolutely fantastic the staff that told the story Wendy was amazing she really told it well very impressive also other lady was fab too credit to the prison we thought it was well organised well presented and we shall return for another visit in future maybe one of the paranormal nights !

We visited Shrewsbury Prison as part of a work outing and had a fantastic and spooky experience! Our tour guide, Beth, was brilliant. Beth was really knowledgeable, informative and engaging throughout. It was a great opportunity to explore the prison and learn about its fascinating history. Would definitely recommend a visit. Thank you Beth!

Malcolm was our guide and he certainly gave us what we paid for. I have no idea why anyone would want to visit without actually having a tour as it puts some context into what you are seeing, otherwise you just wander aimlessly. The tour was one and half hours and flew by. There were around 20 of us, half term so there were kids there and he cleverly adapted the narrative for adults to understand and kids not! Would definitely recommend and your furry friends can go too.

We really enjoyed our guided tour of the prison. Malcolm is a great host and really knows his prison history. Would recommend

Michelle our guide was brilliant. Very knowledgeable . She provided lots of anecdotes about prison life that we would have missed just going around by ourselves. Michelle was very personable - thoroughly enjoyed the tour.

The prison is cold! The tour is fantastic. This was our second visit and the guide Michelle gave a completely different slant on life in the prison. There are several toilets as you walk round.

Absolutely fantastic and guides were brilliant took my 14 year old for a ghost walk there on 21/10/26 he loved it said it was educational and fun but would have liked to have done a bit more with equipment and been able to a bit of a ghost hunt

Very informative incite into the life of prisoners from Georgian times to 21st century. Michelle was a brilliant guide, enthusiastic and engaging throughout the tour. Would definitely recommend.

I couldn’t recommend this guided tour highly enough. Malcolm was absolutely amazing! Knowledgeable, engaging and really friendly. Really fascinating!

Our first visit so decided to book the tour our guide malcolm was amazing. Very informative explained everything and just a enjoyable tour We got time to explore the prison before the tour began. Do wrap up warm as It is very cold in the prison Only let down was gift shop not very cheap Nice group size

Had a great tour today with Malcolm. Thoroghly enjoyed ourselves. Malcolm was funny interesting infomative and as guides go he was a proper GOAT!!!!!!! THANKS VERY MUCH THOROUGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ALL!

A great experience:- insight into prison life throughout the years, and our guide Malcolm was a former prison officer, so very knowledgeable and informative about life in the prison

The experience was so surreal, the hosts and guides Wendy and Michelle, were absolute stars. Were very attentive with information and certain spirits and stories. Were very amicable when It came towards the end and made a birthday event the more memorable for me. Definitely worth 200 miles. As well as they got some free dolls too from a friend of mine so they are the sweetest group you can ask for.

Malcolm the goat is absolutely amazing he gave us a great tour he was funny and thorough with our tour. must recommend. thanks malcolm the 🐐

Fascinating, thought-provoking and brilliantly run! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ We did the guided tour and absolutely loved it. Our guide — a former prison officer — was incredibly knowledgeable, warm and had such a great way of bringing the history to life. You really get a sense of what life was actually like behind those walls — it's respectful, fascinating, and surprisingly moving in places. The execution chamber and exercise yard were particularly powerful moments. Everything is beautifully preserved, the staff are lovely, and it's so easy to find — literally right by the train station. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Shrewsbury — just allow a good couple of hours because there's so much to see and read! 5/5 — easily one of the best tourist attractions I've visited in ages! 👏

good fun ..enjoyable...ps turn the entrance light on in future...

Excellent tour of Shrewsbury prison with Malcolm, our knowledgable guide.

shrewsbury prison night behing bars Included a guided tour with Wendy and Dennis who were absolutely brilliant. Really fun, informative and knowledgeable about the history of the prison Included a stay over in the cell and free time to roam round after the tour and access to free tea and coffee during certain times Most people take comfy shoes, clothing, sleeping bag and pillow Would highly recommend or even if not rhis tour one of the others or the special events they are well organised and close to the train station and centre

Fantastic guided tour with Malcolm. He worked in the prison so was extremely knowledgeable and had lots of funny stories. Bonus we could take our dog around

Loved it. I love anything to do with the paranormal and this was my first place to experience real activity. Wendy was a brilliant guide, her knowledge of the history of the place is impeccable, her side kick, Dennis, was brilliant too. The free time to explore at your own pace was amazing. Unfortunately, on the Friday, I saw/ felt little activity but did feel a presence around me and something stroke my left ear, especially when we were in the C-wing. Felt a cold breeze around my lower legs but my partner didn't. On Saturday morning, around 5.30am, we went into C-wing again, I wasn't disappointed, orbs, loads of them floating and fleeting around me, I managed to capture them on video. good value for money, great atmosphere and not too big a crowd. Will definitely recommend to friends.

We did an guided tour, unfortunately it was lacking. Spent 30 mins in the reception area with the guide just taking, an long time on feet before the tour even started. The guide was an nice chap but we didn't feel he was very informative about the prison facts. We felt the self guided tour would have been better value for money and we would have seen more of the prison.

Our guide Malcolm was an exceptionally good guide and informative relating his experiences to us as well good overview and history of the prison. Dog friendly too 🐶

Malcom was goat. Helped bring everything to life

Excellent guide, she was dressed in Halloween costume, very atmospheric, we were given candles and hot drink. She told us of the history and ghostly going ons, she had light up balls and a monitor. Our only disappointment was, we were told in an email, strobe lighting, fog effects and jump scare. Those never happened, considering it was Halloween too. Not put off going again though for other events there. Brilliant experience for anyone.

We had a great time touring the prison with our guide Malcolm, he really brought to life all areas of the prison, the stories, the dangers, risks and colour of life in the prison during his time as an officer at Shrewsbury. The tour was informative and beign able to wander round a prison relatively recently (this century) retired from use was extremely interesting. Seeing what life would have been for those criminals was well worth a couple fo hours of our afternoon.

This tour exceeded our expectations. Our tour guide Dan was informative, welcomed discussion and questions, and unhurriedly guided us through the prison. The factual and anecdotal information was so interesting and thought provoking. So pleased we booked a guided tour rather than a self guided tour. We would highly recommend this when visiting Shrewsbury.

From the moment we parked the car and entered the cafe the staff were very friendly. Our guide was Malcolm. He was a past prison guard and had worked at Shrewsbury prison. He was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Had a fab experience.

Malcolm is a great and highly knowledgeable guide - thoroughly engaging, informative, and entertaining!

The guide was very nice and well informed.

Excellent visit and guided tour , no rush and our guide Dan was super informative and explained everything extremely well.

My sister and I turned up to Shrewsbury Prison, in the hope of jumping on a prison tour, and luckily there was space. It was amazing. Especially as the tour guide was an actual prison guard who had worked at Shrewsbury (and other prisons). The tour was entertaining, factual, funny with true stories. Tour guide actually said we are going into the execution room, so there will be talk of executions, wow, never have thought... wonder if some snowflake has made a comment about it.

Would highly recommend the guided tour of the prison. Our tour guide, Dan, was so knowledgeable and entertaining too. We learnt some really interesting facts and he told some amazing stories of things that had happened there! We took a lot more away from our visit than if we would have walked around independently, definitely worth the money, a great afternoon out!

Fantastic experience! The staff were exceptional! We both enjoyed the experience, however it does end up quite expensive once you’ve paid for food and drinks in the cafe. I read somewhere that there would be toast or porridge for breakfast, but cereal and fruit was offered. The guided tour was really good, we enjoyed hearing the history of Shrewsbury and the prison. I’d recommend to anybody who is interested in the paranormal 👻. It would be interesting to have some history about who stayed in which cells, and the crimes they committed. Maybe offer prison style food and what prisoners may have done for work?

What a fascinating experience. The guided tour is definitely the best way to see the prison, Malcolm the guide really knew his stuff and as an ex warden had plenty of interesting tales to tell. Highly recommended.

Great tour with a very informative tour guide Malcolm . Loved his stories about the prison service and the history of Shrewsbury prison. Especially loved his share on the ghostly life inside the walls.

We had a fantastic visit to Shrewsbury Prison yesterday. It is an interesting place and has been preserved exactly as it used to be. Our guide Malcolm was excellent and made the tour very entertaining.

Booked on the ghost tour with Wendy and Michelle tonight and it was amazing! Such a brilliant pair of hosts! Spooky and informative! I will definitely be back! Thank you!

Found it very interesting well worth the money and our guide Malcolm was great

My husband and I went on the guided tour of Shrewsbury Prison. Michelle was our tour guide and she was fantastic! Her talk was interesting and informative and gave an excellent insight into the Prison history and inmates. The length of the visit was just right. It was an hour and half. The Prison is well preserved. The Cafe offered a variety of food and drink all reasonably priced. The gift shop had a good range of items to choose from. The Prison is well worth a visit!

I've visited the prison before (about 10 years ago for a walk around without the guide, and more recently for the ghost tour). Paying extra for the guided tour really improves the experience, and I'm so pleased we chose to do it while my partner's sister is visiting from Canada as it's such a unique experience. Malcolm was brilliant, really engaging and knowledgeable (and we loved him interacting with our dog Pippin who he decided was undercover 🤣). It's a really interesting place to visit anyway, but well worth doing the guided tour. Hoping to go back again soon to experience something paranormal 👻

So interesting and informative. Malcolm really made the tour good telling the stories. Would definitely recommend

This was a great experience and brought to life by our amazing guide, Malcom. His knowledge was exceptional and he dad some great stories to tell. Highly recommended

We booked the guided tour this week and it was worth every penny, the guides knowledge of the prison was second to none, he was superb, i didnt catch his name but he made sure everyone in the group was looked after and answered any questions along the way, im so glad we chose this over walking around on our own which we did consider, it was a really good insight into prison life and how everything worked. Even down to trading chocolate hob nobs between prisoners. We also enjoyed a bit of tea and cake in the cafe they have on site. I'd also like to thank Sharon in the shop at Shrewsbury who mentioned we should visit the ironworks sculpture park, we did today what an awesome place. Thank you.

Very interesting and eye opening visit, not for the faint hearted. It gave me an insight into the lives of prisoners, in a Victorian Prison and of Capital Punishment.

Visited with six members of my family - which included my 84 year old Mum who uses a wheelchair and a (nearly) 2-year old toddler. We booked a private guided tour and an escape room. The whole visit was superb and our guide Michelle was fantastic - friendly, knowledgeable and flexible with our group. We found the tour very interesting and Michelle was able to answer all our questions. The escape room was challenging but we managed to escape with a few hints. I found that the prison was surprisingly accessible for my Mum in her wheelchair. As we had booked in advance the staff were aware of Mum’s accessibility needs and had ramps in place for the few areas which were not level access. The accessible toilet was spacious and well laid out and there was a stairlift to allow my Mum to access the higher floors. We decided that the escape room would be a bit cramped for Mum’s wheelchair so she was permitted to observe the fun from the control room with Michelle. My only suggestion in terms of wheelchair access would be to reserve a couple of parking places for blue badge holders closer to the main entrance. Overall I would highly recommend a visit.

Michelle, our tour guide was excellent. She spoke for 90 minutes, all very interesting, she certainly knew her stuff! She used to be a prison officer. I think everyone on the tour enjoyed it. Book with confidence.

The tour leader, Michelle spoke for an hour and a half and was excellent. So interesting to listen to.